CAPUTO: A story of two college football teams

Early in Michigan’s rout of Illinois Saturday, Wolverines’quarterback Denard Robinson hit wide receiver Jeremy Gallon for a 71-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.

It was just the beginning of a methodical onslaught.

But it was only Illinois.The week before, the Wolverines went to Purdue. Their offense exploded similarly, and UM’s defense was nearly as stout.

But it was only Purdue.Michigan State, the Wolverines’ opponent in Ann Arbor this week, is a completely different story.

A lot went right in the Brady Hoke’s first season as Michigan’s head coach in 2011. The MSU game was not one of them. It was, instead, a disaster.

Michigan did defeat Ohio State last season, The loss to Notre Dame earlier this season was painful, but the Wolverines have beaten the Fighting Irish with some degree of regularity in recent years.

The Spartans own four straight victories over Michigan. It’s same number of wins MSU had Bo Schembechler’s entire 21-year stint as head coach.

The MSU game - or more accurately, the Wolverines failure in it - has come to define Michigan’s football program.

Robinson, despite persistent criticism he has received from Michigan fans, has been a terrific college quarterback. He has managed to engineer sevearl big victories and put up very impressive numbers.

What is missing on his list of accomplishments is a victory over MSU. The Spartans defense hasn’t only been effective vs. Robinson, they have throttled him the last two years.

As a result, MSU fans tend to mock and laugh at Robinson. Even their players joined in via Twitter while Michigan was being beaten by Alabama in its season opener.

So Robinson had 128 yards rushing (on just 11 carries) and 159 more passing (one only 11 attempts) Saturday, and some of those yards came on utterly breath-taking runs. So Michigan got a look at life without Robinson when he left the game briefly with what he and Hoke referred to as a “boo-boo,“ and how the offense stammered with backup Russell Bellomy at the controls.

Robinson will never fully win over many Michigan fans, who want a more traditional signal caller, and offensive scheme. He can go a long way in sealing his legacy at Michigan with most fans by beating MSU, though.

If he does not, the BCS bowl victory last season over Virginia Tech, the win over Ohio State, two great games against Notre Dame before this season’s stinker, the trouncing of Nebraska, and his unprecedented all-around stats, won’t mean much.

He will simply be remembered as the quarterback who couldn’t beat the Spartans.

The stigma of those losses has followed around Robinson. Because he hasn’t beaten MSU, he can’t do it in the big games, allegedly.

The Spartans are the ones who have put the blueprint out about how to stop Robinson (box him in the pocket and make him throw the ball, never letting him to the outside).

This season, the Spartans appear particularly vulnerable. Braxton Miller, Ohio State’s quarterback, is fast. He is not, however, as fast as Robinson, who once ran 100 meters in just 10.3 seconds. Miller got to the outside a lot on MSU’s defense.

Saturday, Spartans couldn’t stop Iowa’s decidedly plodding offense when it mattered. While State’s defense has been OK statistically, in reality, it has been a disappointment. It hasn’t been able to trump a mediocre offense.

This should all play into Michigan’s hands this coming Saturday. Part of Robinson’s problems the last two years was playing from behind. In an even game, or playing with a lead, he is much more threatening. Is MSU’s offense even capable of getting a lead against a Michigan defense that is much improved?

“We finally hit a game where we feel like we can be a great defense,” linebacker Kenny Demens from Oak Park and Birmingham Detroit County Day said of the shutout of Illinois.

Demens, who had an interception, and his fellow linebackers Jake Ryan and Desmond Morgan, were especially formidable Saturday.

“This was probably the most complete game we’ve played,” Hoke said.

As for Michigan State, the Wolverines were mum.

“We’ll think about it tomorrow,” Robinson said.

Thing is, there are no tomorrows for Denard Robinson in the rivalry.

He gets one last shot at MSU. It will be at home, and at a time when the Spartans are unusually teetering under Mark Dantonio, who has turned the course of the series dramatically in MSU’s favor.

It may not be fair, but it is a fact: If Robinson doesn’t make the most of the situation, it will follow him the rest of his life.

It’s what college football rivalries are about.

Especially this one.Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for Journal Register Newspapers. Contact him at pat.caputo@oakpress.com and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. You can contact him on Twiter @patcaputo98